|
First of all, YHWH (Yahweh) is "echad" (the plural form of one, such as "one dozen eggs" or "one bunch of grapes") as declared in the Sh'ma (Dt. 6:4). He is a compound unity, but NOT a "trinity" because that is limiting Him. "Church founders" such as Ignatius(35-107 CE), Marcion (110-160 AD) and Tertullian who coined the word "trinity" (155-230 CE) were instrumental in tweaking the Scriptures and inserting their own opinions - which, of course, were swallowed by "the world" as "true Gospel" which sought to free the Church from "false Jewish doctrines":
- Ignatius was considered to be an "auditor" and "disciple" of John. Ignatius pioneered the Greek-based Christian religion and was instrumental in the assimilation of paganism into early Christianity, packaging Christianity for a Greco-Roman Hellenic culture. Ignatius saw Jewish followers of Y'shua as nothing more than legalists and Judaizers. He despised the observance of Shabbat in favor of his Ishtar sunrise "Lord's day" Sun-Day teachings. It is scarcely possible to exaggerate the importance of the Ignatian letters to modern Christian institutions. He was a key player in the development of the modern Christo-Pagan church, promoting the "infallibility of the church" and the "universal church". If there ever was a hierarchy loving "Christian" with a Hellenistic autocratic mindset, it was Ignatius who gave himself the nickname Theophoros (the God-bearer) and taught that deacons, presbyters and bishops were a separate category of people, high and lifted up, and infused with Jesus-like authority to be lords over people. Christians consider Ignatius as one of the all time biggest movers and shakers of the all-Gentile church. He strongly instructed that "without the bishop's supervision, no baptisms or love feasts are permitted". He also believed Mary to be the eternal virgin mother of God.
- Every Christian who uses the term "Old" and "New" testament must take their hats off to Marcion as he was the one who coined these terms which perfectly reflect the Hellenistic mindset of the pagan world which is ignorant of Torah. Marcion taught that the Old and New Testaments could not be reconciled with each other, and this is what you will hear in Christian churches today.
- One of Tertullian's better known "achievements" was to fall into a trance and then prophesy under the influence of the "Holy Spirit", insisting his utterances were the voice of the "Holy Spirit". (The modern day speaking in tongues "born again" Pentecostal or Charismatic Christians must really appreciate someone like Tertullian!) Also, Tertullian, while fumbling in all manner of paganism and spiritism, picked up an "anointing" of the "Holy Ghost" and coined the word "Trinity" which is one of the most beloved doctrines of the pagan Church to this very day. The "persons of the trinity" doctrine flourishes in the hierarchy-based religion which sees itself as a three-sided pyramid structure. Tertullian's works abound with puns, wit, sarcasm and a continual pounding of his opponents with invectives.
|
To show how YHWH can be everywhere at once, imagine Him as one of those fiber optic lamps. YHWH is the base, and the million points of lights that emanate from that base are all connected and, consequently, part of God Himself. One of those "points of light" was Yeshua. When Yeshua walked the earth as "God Incarnate", it didn't mean that God wasn't in charge anymore; He was still performing His "Godly duties" from that base mentioned above, while simultaneously, the "tentacle/point of light" called Yeshua was performing God's will here on earth. We cannot know with our human minds exactly how that works, but we MUST trust someone who can create the universe, the planets, and mankind, and who has manifested Himself in the form of a burning bush, pillars of cloud and fire, and spoken through a donkey! God is too hard for our human minds to comprehend. He is nebulous, and He can manifest Himself in whatever way He wants and still be everywhere at once.
Yeshua is foreshadowed throughout the Tanach, especially in Isaiah 53, and also in every one of the Biblical Feasts. We're also told that Yeshua the Messiah is both deity and human; the "seed of a woman" as promised in Genesis 3:15; and His virgin birth was to be a sign to Israel of His Messiahship. Plus, He has fulfilled hundreds of prophecies.
Messiah Yeshua performed many miracles, including turning water into wine, raising the dead, walking on water, etc. He came to earth to represent God the Father, to teach us how to worship Him, to teach us how to treat each other, and to be our final sin sacrifice. He willingly went to the cross, and then He bodily resurrected and ascended, and the Bible tells us He would return in the future to establish His kingdom upon the earth.
Yeshua Himself made some startling predictions concerning His future on earth: Matthew 16:21 says From that time Yeshua began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.
|
It would not be shocking for One to predict His death, but to predict His resurrection from among the dead on a specific day, would be sheer egotism if One were not certain He was God!
|
He again makes a sweeping statement in John 2:19 "Destroy this Temple and in three days I WILL RAISE IT UP!" Verse 21: But he was speaking of the temple of his body.
Let's take a look at some of the other claims Yeshua makes:
- "Follow ME ... " - Matthew 4:19
- "That you may know that the Son of Man HAS POWER ON EARTH TO FORGIVE SINS." - Matt 9:6 (Only God can forgive sins).
- Him that has Power to give out Healing Power and Power over Death to His followers. - Matt 10:8
- "The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath Day" - Matt 12:8
- "I cast out devils by the Spirit of God" - Matt 12:28
- "A Greater than Solomon is here" - Matt 12:42
- "Many Prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see ... and to hear the things which you hear " - Matt 13:17
- "The Son of Man shall send forth HIS ANGELS and they shall gather out of HIS KINGDOM all things that offend ... and shall cast them into a furnace, ... then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in THE KINGDOM OF THEIR FATHER" (There is ONE Kingdom only!) - Matt 13:41-43
- "And I will give unto thee the KEYS OF HEAVEN" - Matt 16:19
- Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven." Matt 16:16-17
- "For the Son of Man ... shall reward every man according to his works." - Matt 16:27
- "They will see the Son of Man coming in HIS KINGDOM." - Matt 16:28
- "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I suffer you?" - Matt 17:17
- "For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost" - Matt 18:11
- "For where two or three are gathered IN MY NAME, THERE AM I" - Matt 18:20
- "When the Son of Man shall sit in THE THRONE OF HIS GLORY..." - Matt 19:28
- "...For one is your Master, even Messiah" - Matt 23:10
- "When the Son of Man shall come in HIS GLORY and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit UPON THE THRONE OF HIS GLORY and before Him shall be gathered all nations, and He shall separate them ...." - Matt 25:31
- "For this is MY Blood of the New Covenant... " - Matt 26:28
- "All Power is given unto Me in heaven and earth." - Matt 28:18
- "I am with you even unto the end of the world." - Matt 28:20 (as the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh))
Does this sound as if He regarded Himself as "just a man"?
- "No man has ascended up to Heaven but HE THAT CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN EVEN THE SON OF MAN WHICH IS IN HEAVEN" - John 3:13
- "Whosoever drinks of the Water that I shall give him .. it shall be in him a well of water springing up into Everlasting Life". - John 4:14
- "All men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He that does not honor the Son, does not honor the Father." - John 5:23
- "Search the Scriptures (OT) ...for they are they which testify of ME." - John 5:39
- "I am the Bread of Life ...." - John 6:35
- "For I CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN ..." - John 6:38
- "What if you shall see the Son of Man ascend up WHERE HE WAS BEFORE?" - John 6:62
- "I am the Light of the World ..." - John 8:12
- "You are from beneath, I am FROM ABOVE - I am not of this world." - John 8:23
- "Abraham rejoiced to see My day and he saw it and was glad ... Verily, verily I say unto you: Before Abraham was, I AM." - John 8:56-59
- "I am the Door. By Me, if any man enters in, he shall be saved. ..." - John 10:7
- "I am the Good Shepherd." - John 10:11
- "No man takes (My Life) from Me. I lay it down OF MYSELF. I have Power to lay it down AND I HAVE POWER TO TAKE IT UP AGAIN!" - John 10:18
- "I and My Father ARE ONE." - John 10:30
- "I am the Resurrection and the Life." - John 11:25
- "And if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." - John 12:32
- "You call me Master and Lord, and you say well, for so I am." - John 13:13
- "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." - John 14:6
- "If you had known Me, You would have known My Father also: and from henceforth you Know Him and HAVE SEEN HIM." - John 14:7
- "Don't you believe that I AM IN THE FATHER and the Father is in Me?" John 14:10,11
- "And whatsoever you shall ask in My Name, that will I DO." - John 14:13
- "In that Day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me and I IN YOU". - John 14:20 (as the Holy Spirit. Hebrew: Ruach HaKodesh)
- "I came forth from the Father and came into the world; again I leave this world and go to the Father." - John 16:28
- "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End" - Revelation 1:8
- "I am the First and the Last" - Revelation 1:11 & 18 and 22:13
- "And he that overcomes and keeps MY WORKS unto the End, to him will I GIVE POWER over the nations to rule them with a rod of iron ..." - Revelation 2:26
- "To him that overcomes, will I grant to sit with Me in MY THRONE ...." - Revelation 3:21
If Yeshua is not God Incarnate and equal with the Father as some people allege, then WHY did He, like YHWH in the Old Covenant, call Himself the "Alpha and Omega", "the First and the Last"? How can there be TWO "Alphas and Omegas"? Take a look:
Isaiah 44:6 - "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.
Revelation 1:8 - "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
Revelation 21:6 - Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
Revelation 22:12-16: (Sterne's Complete Jewish Bible) "Pay attention!" says Yeshua. "I am coming soon, and my rewards are with me to give to each person according to what he has done. 13 I am the 'A' and the 'Z', the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." 14 How blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they have the right to eat from the Tree of Life and go through the gates into the city! 15 Outside are the homosexuals, those who misues drugs in connection with the occult, the sexually immoral, murderers, idol-worshippers, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. 16 "I, Yeshua, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the Messianic communiites. I am the Root and Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.
|
What you have read above is part of the reason Yeshua was nailed to the cross: He DARED to compare Himself to God the Father and, unlike any other rabbi before or since, He taught with the authority of someone who was equal to the Father! WHY did He do this? Because He was an aspect of God Himself, sent to earth by the Father so that man could better relate to God. How brilliant! How merciful that God cared enough about His wayward creation to come to earth, teach us about Himself, and then to DIE in our places so that we might have Salvation!
|
|